


outside voices

by Areiton



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Character Study, Disapproving Family, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, M/M, POV James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Rhodes family - Freeform, Riri is my fav honestly, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, and Rhodey is gonna give him one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 19:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20569790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areiton/pseuds/Areiton
Summary: That boy will only bring you trouble.





	outside voices

**Author's Note:**

> Written for @ironhusbandsweek & @rhfenovemberbash. Prompt: you keep me going. 
> 
> I actually adore Rhodey’s family pseudo-adopting Tony but this kinda sunk it’s teeth in and wouldn’t let go. Also, I know Riri Williams isn’t Rhodey’s cousin but I read a headcanon and liked it so here we have her.

_ That boy will only bring you trouble. _

Mama says it and Rhodey stares at her, young and full of optimism. 

He watches the skinny white boy standing awkward in a sea of black cousins and kinky hair. He wonders if it's too late, to walk away. 

••

His cousin sidles up to him when the sun starts setting. Tony is sitting on the grass, a circle of space around him in a crowded yard. Riri is in his lap, watching with big eyes as he tinkers. 

_ Gonna break that mower. Boys like him break things,  _ Chantel says. 

He might, Rhodey thinks. But he'll fix it, if he does. 

Tony always fixes it. 

••

They don't understand really, and he doesn't know why it bothers him. Tones is a good kid and the whole family treats him with a kind of wary caution. 

_ Rich white boy like that don't belong here _ . That from his uncle, the one who spent a month in jail and missed his daughter's graduation. Jim doesn't put much stock in that uncle but Mama says every family has one. 

He thinks maybe Tony's family doesn't. He thinks maybe they don't have much at all, and that's why Tony looks so confused, so desperate to slot into place and still painfully out of sync with his giant family. 

••

_ You take care of yourself before you take care of him, Jimmy.  _

His father's eyes are sharp, but kind, watching Tony and Riri. 

Jim doesn't reassure him. He can't. He thinks maybe that's why the whole family is so worried. 

••

Riri clings to Tony when it's time to leave, skinny arms wrapped around his neck and Jim pulls her off, shoves Tony in the car. 

_ Bring him back, Rhodey, _ she orders. 

He kisses her and promises her he will and realizes as he does--she uses the name Tony gave him, the one his family hates, the one that feels like  _ him _ more than any other. 

He kisses her and slips in next to his skinny white boy with his burnt red nose and everything his family said falls away. 

Except Riri's demand and imperious smile. 

~~~~

_ He makes me happy _ , he tells his mama, and her eyes are thin and angry. He walks away from her, away from her concern and distrust, pulls Tony into his arms and Tony smiles, bright and shy, as he looks up, and takes Rhodey’s kiss like it’s his due. 

••

_ He held me together, at MIT,  _ he tells Chantel when she glares across the yard. Tony glances up, a smirk on his lips and the lawnmower roars to life, louder and better than ever. Half the family is screaming. Rhodey scoops him up, and Tony’s arms around his neck feel like the best kind of tether, his smile brighter than any fireworks.

••

_ He’s my family _ , Rhodey says.  _ He belongs here more than you do. _ His uncle takes a swing at him and his brother is muttering curses as he puts ice on Rhodey’s eye, but he doesn’t care, doesn’t  _ care _ , because Tony belongs where Rhodey is, will  _ always _ belong where Rhodey is. 

••

He listens to his Daddy. He doesn’t mean any harm, he doesn’t think. He just doesn’t understand. 

None of them do. He didn’t. But.  _ We take care of each other, _ he says, and his father looks at him.  _ We keep each other goin’. Isn’t that what people in love do? _

••

Riri’s order is ringing in his ears, still, months later, and Tony is waiting, patient, beautiful, fire warm and tired and he leans down, scoops her into his arms, this one cousin who loves Tony, who doesn’t question him and Rhodey and why they make sense. She squirms, squishing leftover pumpkin pie in between them and Tony laughs, low and amused and he doesn’t hear Rhodey whisper,  _ I’m gonna marry him.  _


End file.
